(Not Applicable)
(Not Applicable)
The present invention generally relates to ground sensors and more particularly to an unattended ground sensor that is adaptable for a prescribed mission.
Typically, ground sensors are used in combat areas to monitor enemy activity. The sensors are unattended and self supporting such that human operation is not needed. The unattended ground sensors provide surveillance, intelligence and monitoring of areas not suitable for continuous human presence. The unattended ground sensors relay information back to the field commander typically through the use of a terrestrial radio link or satellite radio link.
The unattended ground sensors are typically designed to perform a specific mission. In this respect, an unattended ground sensor is designed for a specific function such as detecting magnetic fields, detecting chemicals in the air, or detecting seismic activity. The unattended ground sensor is designed for this specific purpose and cannot be used for any other type of sensing activity. These custom designs tend to be relatively large, costly and limited in their capabilities.
The present invention addresses the deficiencies in the prior art of unattended ground sensors by providing a ground sensor with a scalable and modular design that allows for mission specific tailoring. Further, the unattended ground sensor of the present invention provides a standard backplane architecture for electrical interconnection of various sensor modules and a unique mechanical interconnection scheme that allows for inter-changeability of the sensor modules.
An unattended ground sensor is used for the monitoring of a remote area. The unattended ground sensor comprises a housing that supports a power source, a communications module, at least one sensor module and a mainframe module. Additionally, the unattended ground sensor includes a common electrical bus in electrical communication with the power source, the communications module, the at least one sensor module, and the mainframe module. The common electrical bus is operative to provide a communications pathway between the power source, the communications module, the at least one sensor, and the mainframe module. Accordingly, the mainframe module is operative to control the operation of the unattended ground sensor through the common electrical bus.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mainframe module includes a central processing unit in electrical communication with a sensor control unit and a communications control unit for controlling the operation of the unattended ground sensor. Typically, the power source is a battery and the communications module is a radio. The radio may be configured for a prescribed mission of the unattended ground sensor. Additionally, the mainframe module may be programmable via software for a prescribed mission of the unattended ground sensor.
The housing is configured to be dropped from an aircraft. Accordingly, the housing may be an aerodynamic housing that includes at least one fin for stability and at least one stop plate for preventing the housing from penetrating the ground beyond a prescribed depth when the housing is dropped from an aircraft. The housing may include a counterweight disposed therein for aligning the housing in the proper orientation upon being deployed from an aircraft.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the common electrical bus is configured to transfer data at a rate of up to 1.5 Mbps. In this respect, the common electrical bus may be implemented with an architecture selected from RS-232, RS-485, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE-1394 (FireWire), Ethernet, I2C or IrDA. In order to communicate over the common electrical bus, a data link protocol must be selected. The data link protocol may be selected from the group consisting of Point-to-Point (PPP), HDLC; USB; Ethernet; IEEE 802.xx or IrDA. It will be recognized to those of ordinary skill in the art that the common electrical bus and corresponding data link may be any type of bus and data link that transfers data at a rate of up to 1.5 Mbps and that the above examples are not exhaustive.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the unattended ground sensor may include a plurality of sensor modules connected to the common electrical bus. In this respect, the common electrical bus will be configured to be in electrical communication with a respective one of the sensor modules. The common electrical bus may connect the sensor modules in a daisy chain, as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art. The sensor modules may include a sensor such as an acoustic sensor, a seismic sensor, a magnetic sensor, a chemical sensor, a passive infrared sensor, an optical sensor, or a GPS system. The common electrical bus functions as the backplane for the sensor modules such that redundancy and efficient communication between the sensor modules and the mainframe module is effectuated.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of monitoring a prescribed location with an unattended ground sensor having a mainframe module in electrical communication with a communications module and at least one sensor module via a common electrical bus. The method comprises deploying the unattended ground sensor at the prescribed location for monitoring. Next, the at least one sensor module is operated by the mainframe module via the common electrical bus. The at least one sensor module monitors the prescribed location in order to generate information thereabout. Finally, the information is transmitted via the communications module for receipt by a receiving station.
It will be recognized, that a plurality of sensor modules may be operated by the mainframe module such that each sensor module generates respective information which is transmitted by the communications module. The unattended ground sensor may be deployed by dropping the sensor from an aircraft. The mainframe module may be preprogrammed for a prescribed mission with software in order to operate the sensor module prior to deployment of the unattended ground sensor.